Guns Used More For Suicide Than Murder

In 2005, 55 Percent Of Handgun Deaths Were Self-Inflicted; 40 Percent Were Homicides

(AP)  The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, U.S. gun owners use the weapons on themselves.

Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There was nothing unique about that year - gun-related suicides have outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years.

In 2005, homicides accounted for 40 percent of gun deaths. Accidents accounted for 3 percent. The remaining 2 percent included legal killings, such as when police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.

Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.

Studies also have shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court on Thursday struck down a handgun ban enacted in the District of Columbia in 1976 and rejected requirements that firearms have trigger locks or be kept disassembled. The ruling left intact the district's licensing restrictions for gun owners.

The district has allowed shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.

The American Public Health Association, the American Association of Suicidology and two other groups filed a legal brief supporting the district's ban. The brief challenged arguments that if a gun is not available, suicidal people will just kill themselves using other means.

More than 90 percent of suicide attempts using guns are successful, while the success rate for jumping from high places was 34 percent. The success rate for drug overdose was 2 percent, the brief said, citing studies.

"Other methods are not as lethal," said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore.

The high court's majority opinion made no mention of suicide. But in a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer used the word 14 times in voicing concern about the impact of striking down the handgun ban.

"If a resident has a handgun in the home that he can use for self-defense, then he has a handgun in the home that he can use to commit suicide or engage in acts of domestic violence," Breyer wrote.

Researchers in other fields have raised questions about the public-health findings on guns.

Gary Kleck, a researcher at Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, estimates there are more than 1 million incidents each year in which firearms are used to prevent an actual or threatened criminal attack.

Public-health experts have said the telephone survey methodology Kleck used likely resulted in an overestimate.

[newtagagain]

Talking sanity about guns to gun owners is the equivalent to talking creationism to evangelicals - complete waste of time and effort. Bye y''all.

[ianlou]

Guns Used More For Suicide Than Murder
In 2005, 55 Percent Of Handgun Deaths Were Self-Inflicted; 40 Percent Were Homicides

...and 0.001 Percent were used for either.

[randynason]

"But research shows that surprisingly often, U.S. gun owners use the weapons on themselves."

This having been said and the NRA feeling the way they do about their "constitutional right" to bear arms, one can only hope...

[providence_k]

Guns Used More For protection in the home than Suicide or Murder!

[kaylag04]

"...concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater."

Wow - so, is that an increased likelihood per gun owned? So if I own 2 firearms, the likelihood that a suicide or homicide will occur in my home is much, much greater? And if every household in my family has firearms, and has for close to 100 years, and no suicides or homicides have taken place in our homes, is that a percent-likelihood X each firearm X 100 years? Is the background likelihood of a suicide or homicide occurring in the home calculated using the 90 million+ homes with firearms present?

Sorry to sound lost here, but all my advanced statistics classes were more than 10 years ago. Stuff really must have changed. Must be all that computing power assigned to determining "liklihood".

[kansas1946]

Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation''s nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
**************

That''s odd. We didn''t hear this statistic when all these gun laws went in. All we heard about was how there would be death in the streets if anyone was allowed to have a gun. Now all of a sudden we hear that people mostly kill themselves?? I doubt there will be a rash of sucicides because of the supreme court ruling.

[deacon20081]

There is a policy that local news services follow: NEVER report on suicides. Not unless it is a murder/suicide. No wonder that the media never reports these type of studies. You did well this time CBS thanks.

[scottyusa]

OMG! We are actually killing ourselves more than others with guns? This must be bad news for the anti gun lobby. This may be crude but better to commit suicide with a gun than involving some other poor soul like jumping in front of a truck or trying to get the police to shoot you.

[rgrxx175]

the 2nd amendments wording of the right to bear arms refers to militias, not for the individual..

[forasongca]

If people want to kill themselves in the privacy of their own home, I''ve got no problem with that. It beats having them decide to do it by stepping in front of a commuter train, as happens out here in Northern California on too regular a basis. By offing themselves at home, they''re not putting some poor engineer through the trauma of not being able to stop in time, and they''re not ruining the commutes of thousands of people.

[beehive21-2009]

We once new a man that committed suicide, shot himself in the head, we always wondered ? why not overdose on something ,you know ,go to sleep. He,choose to bloody the walls,carpet,bed,etc. We figured he was mad and decided to make a mess of things for his wife to remember him .

[gce65]

Interesting the CDC has data only up as far as 2005. It''s halfway through 2008 now. Is this not such a big problem that we can get more recent data?

And how do they count murder-suicides? Split the difference? Or do they count it like D!ck Cheney neither being part one body (Executive) nor the other (Legislative)?

[gce65]

America: Land of the Gun.

What a great country. No wonder so many suicides here. This place sucks!

[txgrouch2006]

Nancy_Naive wrote
Watch first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU cyphPxcVY
-------------
WHY? Because some snotty high school kid edited some video clips together with loud rock and roll music playing over it, and it supposedly PROVES something???

No thanks, I prefer FACTS and LOGIC.

[txgrouch2006]

Nancy_Naive wrote naively
There have been murders at shooting ranges... one in Dallas.
--------------
OK, that''s ONE.

How many? Does the crime rate correlate with the population density of gun owners?

You''d think you''d hear of a crime at a shooting range every day. But you don''t. WHY?

[txgrouch2006]

gkc99 wrote
...Maybe the USA isn''''t such a happy place!
------------
Gosh, you''re right. Maybe illegal drugs DON''T make people happy after all.

Hey, what do you think, should the government BAN ILLEGAL DRUGS?

[txgrouch2006]

THAT''S WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS.

If you don''t like it, CHANGE IT.

The Constitution was made to be changed. The process for amending the Constitution is included in itself.

GO AHEAD AND CHANGE IT IF YOU THINK IT''S WRONG. Don''t waste your time arguing with us. Just go ahead and change it.

IT''S THAT SIMPLE.

[txgrouch2006]

...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

This is not a conditional statement. The wording before this was the EXPLANATION for giving the right. The ruling treats the first part as the preamble of the amendment. It is the REASON, not the REQUIREMENT.

The rest of the wording is in plain English.

"The people" means "the people," not "the government acting on behalf of the people"

"The right" means "the right," not "the right while participating in an organized group."

"Not infringed" means "NOT INFRINGED," not "not infringed unless we decide there''s enough statistical evidence to infringe anyway."

"The people" means "the people."

"The right" means "the right."

"Not infringed" means "not infringed."

IT''S REALLY THAT SIMPLE.

[txgrouch2006]

Ask yourself this: HOW MANY CRIMES ARE COMMITTED ON A SHOOTING RANGE?

Almost EVERYBODY has a gun there. Are there shoot-outs? Are there armed robberies? Are there crimes of violence?

HOW MANY SUCH CRIMES HAVE YOU EVER READ ABOUT THAT OCCURRED AT A SHOOTING RANGE??

[txgrouch2006]

jlagat wrote
How many American lives have been saved due to self-defense because there was a gun in the house...
------------------
It''s IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to know that number, because there''s no way to count the lives that were saved due to crimes that WERE DETERRED BY THE CROOK KNOWING THERE WAS A GUN IN THE HOUSE, so he chose not to attempt the crime.

Considering the LOW CRIME RATE in places where residents are heavily armed, THAT COUDLD BE A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF LIVES SAVED.